


dance in your father's footsteps

by HereComeDatBoi



Series: you're the one that's making me strong [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Gen, He deserves a break, Humor, M/M, adashi baby, and a raise, best uncle iverson, give him a baby and he is Soft, or at least they were, teenage terrors adashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:26:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22813048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HereComeDatBoi/pseuds/HereComeDatBoi
Summary: One of the strangest things about being a teacher--in Mitchell Iverson’s opinion, at least--was waking up one day and realizing that the children who spent half their lives driving him batty were no longer children at all.(Iverson hangs out with a baby. It's fluff hours.)
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Iverson & Adam & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: you're the one that's making me strong [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1261916
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	dance in your father's footsteps

One of the strangest things about being a teacher--in Mitchell Iverson’s opinion, at least--was waking up one day and realizing that the children he spent half his life instructing and scolding and chaperoning from place to place were no longer children at all. It was easier when the cadets actually left after graduating, whether to college or to work on a base someplace else; but a stubborn few insisted on staying on, and  _ they  _ were undoubtedly the bane of the Commander’s life. Some, like Ina Leifsdottir and Ryan Kinkade (who never talked much anyway, and kept Griffin and Nadia Rizavi in order because they were dating them) were all right, but then there were lieutenants like Keith and Lance Kogane--going to war at seventeen had made them immune to his disapproval, and they were  _ still  _ causing trouble over a decade after he first had the misfortune of meeting them. 

Standing eye-to-eye with a decorated officer he used to scold for improper dress not five years earlier--or four decorated officers, if you counted Hunk and Pidge--was an oddly unsettling experience, but spending his break babysitting one of his former students’ children was even worse than waking up one morning to the solemn revelation that he could never send the notorious Salad Squad to the detention halls again. 

“Your parents are going to be a pain in my neck for the rest of my life,” he told the baby in his arms, bouncing her up and down as she stuck a tiny thumb into her mouth. “Do you know your father stole a plane from right under my nose once? I tried giving him detention, but then he just ended up wooing your otou-san instead, so there wasn’t really any point.”

Sonia only gurgled at him and patted the lapels of his collar, snuggling down under his chin and cooing as he fed her another spoonful of rice porridge. 

“Pa,” she said solemnly, swallowing the savory mush without getting any on her face or clothes. It was very impressive for a seven-month-old, and the Commander felt that he should tell her so; he was never chary with praise when it was really merited, especially for someone whose only role models were the absolute disaster that was Voltron and two parents who wouldn’t have recognized common sense if it slapped them in the face. If he didn’t get a head start on the positive reinforcement now, he very much doubted that he would have a shred of sanity left by the time Sonia was old enough for school.

“You’re right, your father does get into more messes than he should,” Iverson agreed. “Don’t be like him, your Tou-chan’s got enough to deal with.”

Another questioning little coo.  _ What did he do? _ the baby seemed to be asking.  _ Was he really so bad? Tell me about it.  _

“What  _ didn’t  _ he do would be a better question, Soniye. And Heaven knows I don’t like to encourage unruliness, but--well, I suppose they deserve a rest after everything they’ve been through,” he grumbled. “Even if your precious Papa is the reason my hair went gray. You’d better be good for them when you’re older, all right? Adam’s health isn’t what it used to be since you were born, and Shiro’s more stressed-out than I am. And  _ I’m  _ not young enough to deal with mischief anymore, okay?

“It’s just strange, you know. Yesterday your Tou-chan and your menace of an uncle were a pair of snot-nosed kids sneaking in to get extra food after curfew, and now both of them are married, and your parents have you...hell, I’ve been a grandfather for nearly a decade now, and I’ve never felt older than I did when I first saw your ultrasound pictures.”

_ What did they look like? _

“You were perfect, even then,” he said gravely. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I’ve had three kids and five grandchildren, and I never saw such a pretty baby before you. Your Tou-chan was completely smitten--when the photos came he went around telling everyone that you were going to be as beautiful as your Papa was, but your uncle Keith and the rest didn’t see anything different about you--and then when I came to visit you and your Papa in the hospital, it turned out that your Tou-chan was right.”

_ Of course he was right,  _ Sonia seemed to say--a trifle smugly, as if she knew she had inherited Adam’s good looks and was already proud of it.  _ I have everything from my Papa.  _

“Not the hair and the eyes, though,” Iverson yawned, leaning back in his chair and propping Sonia up against his stomach. “Those are all your dad’s. And you’ve got his calm temper, too.”

_ I have everything from him, too! _

“You bet you do, sweetheart. Now go to sleep, it’s naptime.”

_ For you or for me? _

“For both of us, now hush.”

* * *

Iverson woke up two hours later bereft of the warm little bundle he had fallen asleep with, and immediately spent a good two minutes panicking until he saw the small instant Polaroid photo on his desk--a candid shot of him snoring in his chair with his mouth wide open, holding Sonia against his chest like a pillow while Shiro snickered in the background with his hands over his mouth. 

He flipped the photograph over and frowned at the delicate script on the back; someone (namely, a certain Major A. U. Ahluwalia) had written a short note there, and finished it off with an ornate signature that gave him a headache after five seconds of trying to decipher it. 

_ Sonia and her favorite Uncle Iverson: May 10th, 2135.  _

_ Thanks for watching her, Commander. She almost screamed the place down when we tried to take her away from you, but you were so tired you slept right through it. There’s a tuna sandwich and some iced coffee in the fridge, and Admiral Sanda said she’d take over your work for the afternoon. She also told us to steal all your files, so you’re taking a mandatory rest for the day as per your superior officer’s instructions.  _

_ Love,  _

__ _ Adam _

After this there was a smiley face, which Iverson highly suspected was Shiro’s doing, and then--

P.S _. You two looked adorable. WHERE was this version of you when we were at school, sir? WHERE?? _

“In hiding until now, because your daughter doesn’t drive me insane,” he muttered, biting back a grin as he reached for the tuna sandwich. “Even though you two are still here to do it, thank God!”

  
  
  
  



End file.
